The Pumpkin Display That Outgrew One Whitefish Bay Lawn Now Takes Over Halloween Week

In 1987, the Whitefish Bay police asked Gordy Falk to move his jack-o'-lanterns. He kept a large collection on his lawn on Carlisle Avenue, and enough people were driving by to see it that it was backing up traffic. CBS 58 later put it this way: his pumpkins "grew by the hundreds and the crowds grew by the thousands."

The display moved to Old Schoolhouse Park. Falk later tried a few other sites, and then the Whitefish Bay Civic Foundation adopted the event and brought it back to the park, according to a 2013 Patch history. Since then, the main change has been who carves the pumpkins. One man's yard display turned into one that hundreds of households build together. So for anyone in the village, the date that matters most this October is the day before the festival opens: the drop-off deadline.

A display the village carves itself

The festival's basic design hasn't changed in years. People carve pumpkins at home, bring them to the park, and the Foundation lights them each night. In 2013, the Foundation supplied pumpkins, carving tools and candles, and the finished jack-o'-lanterns sat on the park's bleachers. By 2023, CBS 58 described hundreds of pumpkins on shelves around the park, with pumpkins from local growers and big showpiece carvings by master carvers.

The designs that year included Pikachus, emojis and pumpkins built with props. Foundation president Colin Daly singled out a Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas that he called "really creepy." He also mentioned a haunted graveyard by the fountain. All of that came from people bringing pumpkins in, not from a vendor's order sheet.

In 2013, then-Foundation president Crystal Luehne explained how much planning goes into the walk through the park:

"A lot of thought gets put into how guests will walk through the park and the experience they will have as look at the display. Lots and lots of detail, right down to the hand-crafted display signs. We've added music in the past couple of years which gives it a festive feeling and people tend to linger because of it."

That's the same traffic problem that got the display moved off Carlisle Avenue, now solved on purpose. The crowd walks a planned route through a park, not past one front yard.

Familiar names return

Some names show up again and again. Pandl's Whitefish Bay Inn was a food vendor in 2013, and Pat McCurdy played closing night that year. In 2024, McCurdy was back on the lineup with The Hungry Williams, Whiskeybelles and Steve Beghun, one act per night from Wednesday through Saturday, according to a village newsletter from that October. In 2025, TMJ4 reported that Jack Pandl's provided the food. The Civic Foundation ran the drinks, and drink sales help pay for the event.

That last point affects how the festival is funded. A beer at the tent helps pay for next year.

The Foundation's 2026 calendar listing doesn't name any performers or food vendors. A September 15 guide to the festival from North Shore Family Adventures said the nightly performers hadn't been announced yet. The graveyard, the master carvers and the rest describe recent years. The 2026 version will show itself once the shelves fill up.

How the 2026 Halloween stretch lines up

The festival is the center of a Halloween stretch that runs about a week, with three separate organizers. Here is the calendar as posted by each one:

The Business Improvement District's 2026 event schedule confirms the merchant Trick or Treat date. The Merchants of Whitefish Bay events page lists candy from 10 a.m. to noon and points families to the Civic Foundation's pumpkin display. That page doesn't give a year, though, so check the hours closer to the day.

In 2026, the festival's last night falls on Halloween itself, a Saturday. Daytime trick-or-treating ends at 4 p.m., and the park opens for the evening at 6. In 2025, TMJ4 reported that the Saturday festival started early, at 2 p.m., with a bounce house set up alongside trick-or-treating on Silver Spring Drive. No early start has been posted for 2026 yet.

The deadline that decides the display

The Civic Foundation's 2026 calendar gives a single instruction: carve your pumpkin at home and bring it back before Wednesday, October 28. That puts the deadline on Tuesday, October 27. A pumpkin that comes in Thursday misses the first night. And because the display is made of residents' pumpkins, how full the shelves look depends on how many arrive by then.

Here's how drop-off has worked in past years:

1. Get a pumpkin. In 2024, pickup started the Saturday before the festival opened. The Foundation's 2026 calendar doesn't give pickup details, so check its calendar or the village newsletter.
2. Carve at home. Carved or painted both count. The 2023 display mixed the two, along with pumpkins built with props.
3. Cut a hole in the bottom. CBS 58's 2023 coverage gave this advice so each pumpkin could be lit at the festival.
4. Bring it to Old Schoolhouse Park before Wednesday, October 28. The Foundation lists the park at 5240 N. Marlborough Drive.

Getting your pumpkin in early has a payoff. It's on the shelves all four nights, so it's there whenever your family or out-of-town guests stop by.

The traffic question, 39 years later

The festival started because of a traffic problem, and getting around the village is a live topic again this fall. People coming for the merchant Trick or Treat on October 24 will find Silver Spring Drive in the middle of changes.

Whitefish Bay's 80 parking meters came from POM Incorporated, an Arkansas company that closed on October 1. When it closed, credit card payment at the meters and the system village staff use to manage them both went dark, WFB Buzz reported after the September 21 Village Board meeting. Some meters had already stopped working because staff couldn't get the custom replacement batteries.

The Business Improvement District had recommended replacing the meters with posted two-hour parking. The board didn't vote on that. By consensus, the meters stay for now and will likely be hooded with QR codes that point drivers to the ParkMobile/MKE Park app. ParkMobile confirmed it will keep working after October 1 at any metered space, whether that meter works or not.

Trustees said the district is changing too much right now to get useful data from a trial. They pointed to Sendik's construction, one-way traffic on Silver Spring and a new signal coming at Consaul Place. They plan to take it up again once parking is back on both sides of the street. Most of them leaned toward removing the meters for good eventually. Until then, the practical advice is to have the app ready before October 24, not coins.

For parking near Silver Spring, the Holiday Stroll on November 27 is the next big date to plan around. The BID's 2026 schedule lists it right after Trick or Treat.

If this fall has you thinking about your own house, maybe a porch that could hold more pumpkins or a front room that's ready for guests, we're glad to talk it through. Kelton Hatton works with Whitefish Bay homeowners on presentation and timing all year, and a free home valuation is a quiet first step whenever you're ready. Request a Free Home Valuation.